The internet is handy for looking up medical information, but most people still value the judgment of their own doctor or pharmacist.
Communication consultancy Porter Novelli and De Vos &Jansen Healthcare came to this conclusion after researching more than 600 Dutch people. Three quarters of the medical information that is looked up online is seen as additional information. For important questions, they first go to their doctor by.
Easy &fast
Many Dutch people (80 percent) search for medical information online. In the past twelve months, for example, people visited an average of nine times online for medical information † Women more often than men. The respondents then mainly search for information about specific complaints or disorders (64 percent), general health information (13 percent) and information about medications (12 percent).
Mainly because of its convenience, medical information is just as popular on the Internet. You can do it whenever and wherever you want. In addition, almost half use information on the web only to prepare for a visit to the doctor.
Reliability
The largest group (35 percent) of those surveyed finds information comes from medical personnel the most reliable. In addition, citing the source is very important for more than a quarter and medical experiences of others are credible and valuable for 1 in 4 Dutch people.
At the same time, 7 out of 10 Dutch people attach more value to the advice of the GP about medicines than to the experiences that can be found on the internet.
